return of the night furys
by the core of justice
Summary: planing on running away hiccup is about to go to toothless in the cove to leave but then astrid comes out and starts threatening hiccup but instead of astrid beating up hiccup hiccups new side finally reveals itself his evil side manages to fight of asrtid until toothless comes and helped hiccup he pins downs astrid and roars in her face showing the power of the night fury
1. Chapter 1

hey everyone i am rewriting the story thanks for razor95 for helping me please check out his storys

It was a normal like any other on Berk. Vikings went about their daily routine's happily living a life that rolled forward under it's own momentum. the sun was out and birds were singing. the village hummed and heaved to the sounds of the forge, houses being rebuilt or repaired and the laughter of children, freed from the boredom of their chores, playing in the street.

however one little girl was not having as much fun as the others as she chased a boy through the streets because he had taken something of hers, as teasing young boys of that age are want to do.

"Gustav! Gustav! come on! give her back! please!" Paloma Gunnerman begged

"Nuh uh! not until you say Gustav is the best Viking in the world ever!" the older boy smirked.

"Noooo!" the young girl whined, having been forced into this humiliating exchange too many times before.

"Say it! Gustav is the best!" the young Larson boy crooned as he held the girl's stuffed lamb high above his head far away from Paloma's much shorter grasping hands.

"but I don't wanna!" she whined

Gustav jumped back a few paces, his eyes grew narrow and he smiled evilly as he stared down the girl now frightened by his demeanour.

"Then I'm going to have take little 'lamby' here to the shearers for a hair cut and then I think we'll have some dinner, maybe a nice...lamb...stew!

"Nooooo!" Paloma yelled, scared witless at the prospect of her favourite toy being skinned and then eaten for dinner. true part of her knew her 'lamby' was just a toy, but at that age it didn't make a difference. her favourite stuffed animal was just as alive as she was, with all the relevant thoughts and feelings that came with it. Paloma couldn't face the world if her precious 'lamby' was gone.

"hah ha ha ha!" Gustav taunted as he revelled in getting the distraught reaction he had hoped for from his young friend who was a girl. he took off running even faster, knowing there was still more fun to be had with this game.

"Come on Gustav! pleeeeaaaaaase! don't make her into lamb stew! Come back!" Paloma begged, nearly on the verge of tears.

"your gonna have to catch me first!" Gustav shouted back over his shoulder, not showing any sign of slowing his pace

"I'm gonna tell on you! Come back!" the girl protested as she picked up her feet to a running pace determined to catch up with the arrogant Larson child.

"ha ha ha..." Gustav roared as he raced round a corner. he had planned to get to the edge of the forest and stick the stuffed toy up a tree and then spend an hour or so watching Paloma Gunnerman's futile attempts to get it down. truly this was going to be a good day.

That all stopped as, in his eagerness, he didn't look were he was going and slammed right in to someone coming the other the way. The boy stopped dead against the solid body and fell on his back side, the toy lamb flying out his grip. wincing and looking up he couldn't see who he had run in to as they were hidden by the sun behind them.

Still he was a Larson, he wasn't about to apologise. he puffed out his chest and shook his fist at the spoiler of his fun

"hey! watch where you're..."

Gustav's reproach died in his throat as he saw his hand was covered with something. It was a thick sticky liquid that had a vaguely metallic aroma to it. Turning his hand over he realised his hand was covered in blood. Real blood. The kind that adults bleed.

But it was not his blood. It was the stranger's. The stranger was covered in blood and now it was on his hands. Every muscle in Gustav's body froze and his sense of the world faded to nothing as he was entranced by the horrifying, lumbering, rasping figure that stood before him. He didn't even notice the subject of his teasing catch up to him and notice the dark figure herself.

While the cocky young boy was stock still, Paloma in her fear snatched her lamb from where it had been dropped and let out a terrified high pitched scream that carried across Berk and possibly to the realm of the gods it self. Many Vikings dropped what they were doing and raced to their side fearing the worst only to have those fears dashed and replaced by new ones upon witnessing the cause of the disturbance.

when some arrived they gasped as they had never seen anything like it.

immediately someone ran off to fetch the chief.

so ya thanks for razor95


	2. talk

"Well? what do you think?" Stoic asked, his face full of expectation.

"It's...well...it's..." Gobber looked the parchment in his hand, up at his friend, back the parchment then back to his friend again, a very uncertain look on his face.

"it's what?" Stoic began to frown, annoyed that his hard work was obviously going to criticized.

"do you not think it's a bit...much?" The blacksmith asked tentatively.

"what do you mean?" Stoic replied impatiently.

Gobber set the page down with the chief's speech on it. Stoic said he had been up half the night composing it for Hiccup's graduation fight tomorrow and he wanted the opinion of his best friend and Hiccup's mentor on it. Stoic was beginning to regret that decision.

Gobber scratched the back of his neck as he spoke, obviously not wanting to rake up the awkward relationship issues he knew existed between the chief and his son. But this time he felt he had no choice in the matter.

"Well...Stoic...the thing is...the boy's not really used to receiving praise at the best of times...I mean you saw how quickly he vanished after getting mobbed by the crowd in the arena this morning...never seen him move so quick in his entire life...!"

"what are you getting at Gobber?" Stoic didn't want another lecture on his lacklustre parenting skills.

"I'm just saying it may put him off!" Gobber elaborated, his stone tooth rocking in his mouth as he flexed a smile

To calm the now visibly aggravated chief down Gobber lifted up the letter and started quoting passages from it to prove his point

"Look...If you go from scolding him in front of the entire tribe to calling him 'the pride of berk'...and...'living proof that the haddocks are descentdents from the mighty gods themselves'...then he has to fight off a monstrous nightmare?...he'll be worried enough without having to live up to such a...grand opening like this!"

"I don't care Gobber!" Stoic interrupted forcfully, chugging down a tankard of meade, a wide smile breaking across his face. "it's about time Hiccup got some praise for something and the fact that its dragon training of all things. its almost too good to be true! Sometimes I think im dreaming and when I wake up things will be as they were with that boy destroying more of the village than those damned dragons! I can finally make a fuss of him without having to worry about it going wrong!"

"You know the lad does have skills besides dragons training" Gobber urged, slightly dismayed at his friends misguided pride, "he amy not look it but hes a whizz in the forge!"

"Aye!" Stoic nodded before refilling his tankard as he spoke with even more energy, "but he cant be stuck there forever! If he does well against the nightmare il be able to start him in his chief training properly...teach what he needs to know...take on more visists to other tribes...get him back to combat training so he'll have more meat on his bones...mould him to the hier and chief he should be!"

Stoic leaned back as he revelled in the new future he could see unfurling before him and marvelling at his own cleverness while Gobber looked at at his friend, his jaw becoming slacker as Stoic pressed on

"And to think all it took was a firm hand and strong word", Stoic smugly intoned, "It's amazing Gobber! I should have done it years ago! Once hes done with the dragon training I'll get him to throw out all those fanciful invetions he wastes his time on and get him back on the path to be a true Viking!"

At this point Gobber winced at the enormity of what he was hearing. He had seen how Hiccup responded to Stoic's forceful tactics in the past and it never ended well for the boy. Hel, even forcing Hiccup into dragon training had nearly gotten the boy killed a dozen times over so forcibly removing something that the Hiccup, himself seemed insensitive bordering on cruelty.

"Do you not think that's taking it a little too far? I mean sure he's gooten great at dragon training but he's still Hiccup. it's gonna take a lot more than just your say so to get him to change!"

"Nonsense!" Stoci waved dismissively with his hand, enraptured by his new found breakthrough, "now that I know how to handle him it'll be easy! Granted, he may not like it at first but he'll learn to love it and then he'll finally start acting like the son of a chief!"

Gobber snorted derisively before taking an slug of his meade and pushing the speech into Stoic's face.

"Well before you start cementing the great haddock legacy lets get tomorrow over with first" Just tone down the fanciful language, keep it simple!"

"like how?" Stoic really though his grand speech was perfect.

"just say how proud you are of how well he's done" Gobber urged "And that he'll make a fine Viking. that's all he wants!"

"really?" Stoic's eyebrow raised. Was it really that simple?

Gobber sighed as he went on "Hiccup said to me all he wanted was to be one of us, that will be enough for him and everyone else...at least for now."

"I suppose that will do" Stoci sighed in agreement, "once I give it the old Haddock flair!"

"The old Haddock Flair? Oh great!" Gobber groaned sarcastically, "if you say so chief."

"I do!" Stoic slammed his tankard down effectively ending that particular part of their conversation turning his mind to more practical matters. If he couldn't show off his son with his words then maybe he could do it in another way.

"...now how are you going to set up the arena? I want the place looking the best its been in years with banners featuring the Haddock crest and torches...!"

"Don't worry old friend" Gobber interrupted smiling, already seeing Stoic's enthusiasm begin to take over again, "I've already got the preparations well under way. The place will look perfect for the chiefs son to..."

"CHIEF!"

The voice rang across the room like a clarion bell disturbing everyone with it's volume and urgency.

"What is it?" Stoic called out, his ears open to hear, his mind ready to analyse and his body tense, ready to react at a moments notice.

"You see it for yourself sir!" The warrior called, seemingly afraid to leave his post at the great hall doors, "One of the villagers has been attacked, they're down in the village now babbling something! it looks bad sir!"

"like what?" Stoic bellowed in annoyance, already rising from his chair. This man had nothing really to tell him and he hated not knowing what he might be facing.

"I don't know sir, I was told to come and get you...I think...it's one of the children...that's all I know sir!"

"Children?"

'Hiccup!' Stoic thought.

Stoic's agile mind leapt like a coiled spring.

It could be an accident or perhaps he was attacked by one of his rivals or even a rogue dragon!

Stoic fought hard to keep his imagination in check despite bitter experience showing him that disaster seemed follow his son around like a sickly shadow.

"Alright lets get down there and see what's going on!"

And with that Stoic and Gobber dashed out of the great hall, the wake of their passing scattering the many pages of plans they had for Hiccup's final trial all across the table and the floor.


	3. what happened

Like many women of Berk, the afternoon was the perfect time for Hilda Hofferson to hang out her washing. The sun was at its warmest for the cold bitter rock that was Berk, but it usually sufficed to get the job done.

It had been a troubling time for the Viking warrior-maiden. Her daughter had been constantly angry, not that there was anything new about that, but recently her anger was tinged with an frightening atmosphere of bitterness and resentment she had never witnessed in her daughter before. It hung around her like fiery red aura threatening to burn anyone who dared approach her and it made nights in the Hofferson household unbearably tense.

Not even Baldur, Astrid's father, had been able to soothe the girl as she would simply sit in her chair for hours on end, sharpening her axe and grinding her teeth to razor sharp edges.

And now she knew the reason why.

It was all because of Hiccup Haddock, the chief's son. He had done the unthinkable and beaten her daughter, her daughter, at the one thing Astrid excelled at, fighting dragons. On the on hand she was pleased the boy had finally started making himself useful for a change, rather being an instrument of Loki's destruction. But by the same token she was almost insulted that all the praise and honour he had earned had ultimately come at Astrid's expense.

She was so proud of the warrior he daughter was growing into and knew more opportunities for her to prove herself would come. However she was saddened that Astrid's own pride was blinding her to this fact of life and that neither her nor her husband could convince the irate girl.

Astrid loathed Hiccup and Hilda would have to do something about that before it became a real problem. If she spoke to Stoic then maybe he could organize some sort of reconciliation between the two teenagers. With enough coaxing and persuasion, Hilda thought, perhaps a suitable match for the future could be made. Hilda smiled at the possibility of the two most powerful families on Berk being united through marriage, as she flicked a pair of her husbands britches in the air before draping them over her washing line.

The sun seemed even more pleasant than usual and birdsong could be heard. Unknowingly Hilda began to hum along as she went about her chore with renewed gusto.

The sound of voices in the street began to distract Hilda and more and more people walking briskly by made her stop altogether. Hilda was always eager to hear gossip. It's what made life here interesting and it was good to know what was going on.

As she made her way swiftly to the street from her small garden she was nearly bowled over by a rushing Genna Ingerman who skidded to a halt as she rounded the corner and came face to face with her.

"Woah Genna!" the warrior-maiden declared to her close friend in shocked surprise, "What's the rush? Whats going on?"

The look on the Ingerman woman's face immediately set Hilda on edge. Her friend had been rushing to see her and the panicked breathing and haunted look she bore spelt out she did not bring good tidings.

Hilda suddenly realised that the commotion going on in town had something to do with her or and if not her then Baldur or...Astrid!

A thousand thoughts exploded in Hilda's mind.

Had her irate girl done something foolish? like take out her pent up frustrations of on something just trees? Had she broken into the arena again to fight a dragon alone or had she done herself an injury or someone else? Had she finally decided to take revenge on the Haddock boy thus risking the anger of Stoic the Vast?

In any case it didn't matter and Hilda raced off to the plaza where she saw a large crowd had gathered already. As she shoved herself through the growing mass, Genna Ingerman at her side, Hilda saw chief Stoic doing the same as he thundered down the steps from the great hall.

'Oh no!' she thought.

If stoic got involved then this could go very badly for everyone concerned. with Baldur away with the flock in the foothills it would be up to her to defend her family's honour and she would do so with the typical Hofferson ferocity. Redoubling her efforts she literally dragged people out of her way to get to the centre of the action.

Finally breaking through the front of the crowd, a horrifying sight met Hilda Hofferson's eyes. A sight so out of place and heart-breaking she could do nothing but drop to her knees and let out a silent wail of despair.


	4. hiccup,night fury

toic broke through the line of onlookers at the same time as Hilda and was shocked by the woman's reaction. When it came to fighting, she would charge in like all the other Hoffersons fearlessly did. So to see her so frozen like this was a very ominous sign.

Turning his head, Stoic finally took in the sight that had reduced Hilda Hofferson to simpering wreck and made him fight his own gag reflex.

There standing in full view of over half the tribe was Astrid Hofferson.

But it was not the Astrid Hofferson anyone had ever seen before. normally she was dressed immaculately, her clothing and armour kept in pristine condition, her ever present axe ready to wielded at a moments notice. She was everything an aspiring shield maiden, Viking and future Valkyrie should look like with an attitude that exuded confidence, strength and fearlessness.

But that was not the sight that greeted him.

Astrid was standing alone, her body violently shaking, her eyes on stalks, wide with paralysing fear. Her hair, normally restrained in a tight braid was wild and thrown in every direction. Some of it looked like it had been burnt and there was an exposed patch on her scalp where a large clump of it had been ripped out completely, forcing blood to taint her sunny blonde locks.

Her face was just as unsettling. Astrid had always been very guarded with her emotions, but now her face was locked in a rictus mask of horror. It was as if she had seen the face of Surtur himself and she could not let her face make any other expression other than pure dread.

The rest of Astrid's body was a patchwork of despair. The majority of her clothes had been ripped or burnt away to the point where the girl was practically n***. There was no sign of her leather skirt, her armoured shoulder guards or her leggings. A few flimsy strands of fabric barely preserved the girls dignity but she didn't seem to notice or even care. Her boots were missing.

The sheer amount of exposed skin told a more disturbing story for Astrid was covered in bruises, burns and cuts painting her normally pale, flawless, alabaster skin an ugly tapestry of browns, purples, pinks and reds. It was as if she had walked through Silent Sven's abattoir and bathed in the blood of the slaughtered cattle.

The girl had been attacked, that much was clear. But by who?

Stoic edged half a step forward to realise in shock that the cuts were nothing like any weapon would make and bore the distinction patterns of claw and teeth marks.

A dragon then.

Seeing that the other villagers were now looking at him to take action Stoic breathed deep and strode towards the girl to be within a few feet of her. As he got closer he began to hear that she was muttering something. Fast and incoherent but words nonetheless.

"Astrid?"

The girl didn't respond her eyes locked on some middle-distance that was everywhere and nowhere.

"Astrid!" the chief declared more forcefully.

This got the girl's attention and she snapped her eyes to him. The haunted look in the girls eyes was even more disturbing up close. It was a desperate plea for help but had a look of damnation about it as well.

"Astrid? What happened? what did this to you?" Stoic asked evenly.

The girl's face wrestled to bring her trembling lips under control trying to form a word. Her breathing was constantly hitching as she made the most coherent sounds she could

"H...Hi...Hicc...Hiccc...Hicccuuu...Hiccup!"

Stoic's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up at the mention of his sons name.

"What?" Hilda asked as the crowd made a collective gasp at the apparent accusation against the chief's son.

"What you mean Astrid? What about Hiccup?" Stoic growled low approaching the girl till he was looming over her.

At first Astrid didn't answer and fell back to her incoherent mutterings, her body still shaking.

Stoic had had enough. His son was in danger of being accused of a very serious crime and he wouldn't let some deranged girl sully his heir's already fragile reputation. Not when it had finally risen after all this time.

Stoic lunged forward and grabbed the girl by the shoulders, going down on one knee bringing his face directly in line

with hers and practically roared his questions. He barely held back the urge to strike the girl.

"What do you mean girl!? Speak sense! What do mean to say about Hiccup!?"

The shock of the chief's vast voice in her face seemed to bring Astrid back to some form of lucidness. She stared at the chief as if realising he was there for the first time. His gaze was a morass of emotions ranging from concern to fury, from compassion to righteous indignation.

Twitching and wincing in pain Astrid her raised her hand to point at the forest behind her. She looked Stoic dead in the eyes and her flickering lips laced with horror loudly rasped.

"Hic...Hic...Hiccup...n-n-n-n...Night...f-f-Fury...g-g-g-g-Gone...b-b-b-b-Back!"

"What?" was Stoic could ask in his confusion.

"Hiccup...Nightfury...Gone...Back!" Astrid repeated desperate for someone to understand her. But Stoci did not understand as he got more irate in his confusion.

"Is he alright? Where is he? what happened?!"

But all Astrid could say was those same four words.

"Hiccup...Nightfury...Gone...Back!"

Stoic was feeling his rage mixed with worry over take him again. Here was the most fearless warrior of her generation, a Viking prodigy, quivering, bloody and weak as a new-born lamb.

He considered the scenario that His son and Astrid had encountered a nightfury

"A Nightfury?!"

Terror seized the chief's heart as he realised that if Astrid had been reduced to the traumatised wreck in front of him then what could have happened to his scrawny fishbone hiccup of a son?

He looked to Astrid for an answer but all he got was her repeating the same four words faster and faster and faster until she broke down in a horrified wail that would have put anyone in mourning to shame. Gruffly the chief stood up and pushed her into the waiting arms of her mother who was still shocked at the state her daughter was in.

"Gobber!" Stoic yelled, "get a search party together! fully armed! If Hiccup is still out there with a night fury on the loose, then were going to save him!"

"And if we are too late?" Gobber ventured tentatively.

"Then were going to find that Nightfury and skin it alive or any other dragon that tries to get in our way!"

For a moment the village didn't move as they were entranced by the sheer aura of rage the chief now exuded. Not hearing any movement Stoic looked over the crowd, his eye twitching in barely contained rage.

"NOW!" Stoic roared and it got everyone moving. Most didn't know where to go but left anyway for the great hall in well practised fashion. Gobber immediately started calling certain Vikings by name to join the hunting part. Stoic marched to his house for his battle-axe, his sword, his shield, his daggers, his hatchet and any other weapon he could carry.

Soon all that remained of the crowd were the Hofferson women still crying in a close huddle along with Genna Ingerman and Hildegard Thorsten who had also come to comfort her distressed friend.

"We need to get them to Gothi's!" Genna urged

"Agreed!" Hildegard intoned.

Soon they were supporting the Hofferson women to the elder, silently praying that she could heal Astrid's wounds both physical and the mental.


	5. part 5 the searches

Part 5 – The Searchers  
Stoick didn't even look back at Astrid or her mother as he entered his hall to collect his weapons.

The girl was alive but that was of little consolation to him if his son was not and he did not have the full story of what had transpired.

He remembered how violently Astrid had reacted to Hiccup being chosen to fight the Monstrous Nightmare over her and Stoick remembered that Vikings – especially female Vikings – were a terrifying force to be reckoned with, when angered.

Astrid was a proud young Viking as all the Hoffersons were. She had been the benchmark against which all the other parents measured their own children, including Stoick himself.

Had she been born under his roof, then what a fine chief she would have made.

"Don't worry Hiccup, I'm coming for you son!" Stoick muttered as he rummaged through his war chest for the set of throwing axes Gobber had forged for him last year, "What happened? What in Thor's name happened?"

As he attached the leather bandoleer of small axes to his belt, a dark thought crossed his mind.

'Pride was a dangerous thing! Perhaps Astrid was not as much of a victim as they all believed'.

For all he knew the girl had abandoned his son and fled like a coward when the dragon attacked them or more disturbingly, perhaps Astrid had lured Hiccup to a dragon nest and let the beast have its way with him, while she only put up a token resistance knowing Hiccup would die.

Stoick's paranoia ran riot as he girded himself for the hunt.

The possibilities of what happened were endless but there was one thing he did know for certain.

Hiccup was out there and he would find him. He was going on the hunt to find his son and he would slaughter anything or anyone that got in his way.

Little did he know that what really happened was beyond any scenario he could possibly comprehend.

-  
(30 minutes later)

A large group of Vikings were tearing through the woods at a quick pace, desperately retracing Astrid's steps to the scene of the supposed attack. It actually wasn't that hard a task as there were broken leaves and patches of blood splattered everywhere along the trail Astrid had used to return to the village. But when the trail went cold Stoick would turn to the struggling young girl he was dragging along beside him in the cast iron grip of his mighty hand.

Stoick had little patience when he was angry, but it shocked nearly everyone when he burst into Gothi's hut and insisted Astrid accompany the hunting party. Above the protests of the women and the village elder, Stoick more-or-less carried the bandaged up shield-maiden out of the hut and now was using her like some sort of catatonic hunting dog.  
"Which way?" Stoick growled as they came to a fork in the trail. Neither path looked like it had been used recently.

"Which way girl?!" Stoick repeated louder this time as he shoved Astrid toward the diverging paths.

"Stoick!" Gobber urged "will you not ease off on her, the girl's clearly in shock, I doubt she can even remember her own name and you're upsetting the women folk!"

Gobber nodded his head in the direction of Hilda Hofferson, Magnahild Ingerman and Hildegard Thorston which were a few warriors back, their faces a mixture of fear, exasperation and disgust. The 'Three Hilds' as they were known were visibly shuddering trying to contain their pent up emotions, one wanting to just protect her daughter, one comforting her friend and one ready to slap the chief silly for his rough handling of the traumatised Astrid.

Stoick glanced at them then back to the path, unwilling or unable to meet the combined power of their glares.

"When we get there, she can go!" was all he grumbled as he felt their eyes burn into his back.

"What if we split up?" Gobber piped up again, "we can cover more ground faster and the women can take the lass home to rest."

"No!" Stoick replied firmly, "if there's a Nightfury out there, we need everyone together to take it down! Only Astrid knows where it happened and I'm not wasting any more time than I have to!"  
ees…lots of trees!" A female sing-song voice broke the men's conversation "birds live in trees…..they fly and dive and swoop…make nests…..fly high…high in the sky!"

Stoick and Gobber turned back to the muttering Astrid as she walked in uneven circles between the two diverging paths. The girl was stumbling about in the long white tunic Gothi had given her, seeing her clothes had been ripped to shreds by the dragon. Coupled with both her arms and much of her body being smothered in salves, balms and bandages, she looked more like some ghostly wraith than the energetic, fearless warrior in training everyone thought her to be.

Astrid stared upward, seeing rays of sunlight breaking through the canopy overhead. The tweeting of birds filtered through the branches and specks of blue sky teased their way into Astrid's ocean blue eyes.

"Such big wings, I bet they fly really easy!" Astrid declared dreamily, letting her arms raise up as if she trying to touch the clouds, "they'll fly all over…birds don't really fly…..birds think they fly …but not compared to Nightfuries! Oh…oh….oh…..Nightfuries really fly!...they fly like nothing else…..birds can't match them!...Do birds get jealous? I'd be jealous if I was a bird and I saw them flying, so unfair them flying…."

"What do you mean child?" Stoick demanded impatiently stepping toward Astrid as she continued to wander about, "What about birds and Nightfuries? Which way to the dragon?!"

Astrid began to laugh, at first it was a light chuckle but it quickly evolved into a demented cackle and she fell to her knees clutching her stomach, still laughing yet wincing in pain as her broken ribs protested.

ghtfury…..Gone…Back!" She rasped again starting another giggling fit.

"Not this again" Stoick muttered in exasperation.

"Hiccup…Nightfury…Gone…..Back" Astrid giggled louder as if her ranting was the punch line to some insanely funny joke.

Kneeling beside her again Stoick spoke as calmly as his frayed nerves would allow to snap the girl out of her lunacy.

"Come on Astrid! Remember! Where is Hiccup? Where is that dragon hiding?!"

"Hiding?" Astrid froze and looked at Stoick, a chord obviously being struck with the word.

"Yes, where is the dragon hiding?!" Stoick asked enthusiastically, praying he had said something useful.

A light seemed to spark in the girl's eyes again. A sign of something being remembered was marked by a wide smile of revelation splitting Astrid Hofferson's face. She looked exhilarated as one of her memories broke through the haze of her mind and spilled unrestrained out her mouth.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!...Ha ha ha ha!" Astrid crooned out in a playful, childlike tone, "Hiccup was always good at hiding!...always good…. but not so good he could hide from us forever!"  
Astrid quickly whipped round and began stalking through the trees again. She whispered to people unseen as she called up to some invisible figure in the trees, a dark almost predatory look on her scared face.

"Come on out my little e, come, come one out my little hic-hic-hiccup! Hah hah hah…we've got a surprise for you!"

that's the first bit. I've picked astrid to be a bit more of a nasty character this time around. this aint no hiccstrid story, I tell you that now.

3h ago

Astrid titled her head as if she was listening to someone replying. Stoick watched this scene, his ire rising and his brows furrowing at her calling his son by his much hated nickname.

"Oh No!" Astrid declared in a mock-hurt tone "Of course we won't hurt you!...No not like the last time! We've got a present for you!"

Astrid's gaze now returned to ground level. She was now looking down and circling around her still invisible prey, her eyes still filled with malice and threat, forgetting her audience entirely.

"There you are! Now how's our favourite son of a chief? We've been looking for you everywhere!.. ...What?!...Of course we wouldn't forget your birthday! Now close your eyes and hold out your hands!"

Astrid laughed a mocking, derisive laugh as she turned back to Stoick, stepping out of her little performance.

"And he does it, can you believe it?" she declared in sarcastic amazement, "After all the other times we beat him black and blue, he still comes out and he closes his eyes and he holds out his hands! Ha ha ha ha!...I mean come on!...he's got to be the stupidest Viking whose ever lived! He thinks were giving him a present! Ha ha ha! Well we do….but he knows he won't like it!"

Quickly Astrid was back in her scene as she swung her fist through the air at the same height where Hiccup's head would have been. She elicited a war cry as she watched the invisible body fall to the ground.

"Yah! Take that useless! Ha ha ha! And that!" she screamed as she began to kick at a branch at her feet, "Here's an extra special one for hiding from us last week and we couldn't find you!"

Astrid punched the ground.

"Take that useless!"

Astrid punched the ground again.

"And that!"

Astrid punched the ground again.

"And that! Come on Snotlout, Ruffnutt, Tuffnutt, Fishlegs, get stuck in ha ha ha!"

Stoick looked on horrified as he finally realised the dire import of Astrid's babbling and furious striking of the ground.

'They had been beating his son, his so-called friends, his peers, the ones who were destined to grow up with him and someday help him run the tribe. They were meant to follow him, protect him, and serve him when the time came. It was not meant to be like…..this!'

Still Astrid kept attacking the ground with devilish glee oblivious of what she had just confessed and to whom. Stoick snapped the girl from her dark reverie by grasping her and slamming her against a tree screaming at her.

"YOU BEAT HICCUP? HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU!"

"IT WAS FUN!" Astrid yelled in response as if she were talking about any idle hobby Berkians pursued like whittling or needlepoint, "Hiccup was going to end up dead from the dragons or one of his contraptions! Not even Stoick thought he was going to make it!...Sure he always said….." Astrid dropped her voice to a low growl in a not very flattering impression of Stoick, "…..Hiccup would be the strongest of us all …..But Stoick doesn't really believe that…not really, Oh but don't tell Stoick that…he gets a bit angry when you tell him the truth! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Stoick was incandescent with rage and drew back his fist. He wanted nothing more than to crush the spiteful words out of Astrid by smashing her face apart. And with the iron gauntlets he was wearing, combined with his innate strength and a father's rage, he was going to do just that.

there you go. all of part 5

I look forward to you thoughts. sorry for taking so long again but life can suck sometimes. also thks to razor for helping me


	6. the Begging Part 1

Part 6:

Spy games

"Why you despicable little….." Stoick growled at Astrid, his arm ready to deliver what would be a killer blow.

"Stoick! Don't!...I said Don't!" A male voiced from behind him ordered firmly.

Before the chief could slam his fist into Astrid's face, Gobber quickly snatched Astrid away and looked at her dead in the eyes.

"Astrid please tell us!" the old blacksmith begged, "forget about Hiccup hiding! Where is the dragon hiding? We need to find it and get Hiccup back!"

"Ok ok ok ok ok yes yes yes!" Astrid complained as she wriggled out Gobber's grasp "I'll show you where Hiccup's hiding the dragon! This way! come on, come on, come on!...Oh he is in so much trouble when I tell Stoick!"

With that, Astrid took off down the left hand fork that led in the direction of the isolated Raven's point. Very quickly the path disappeared and they were all scrambling through the undergrowth of the tightly packed trees, Astrid leading the way with Gobber behind her, ensuring he acted as a solid human shield against the rage filled Stoick as he prowled after them, his weapons and armour clinking dangerously in the quiet of the forest.

As they walked Astrid was grabbing against trees, ripping up bushes by the roots and snapping branches , looking in every direction yet still inexorably drawn on one particular bearing. Gobber and Stoick listened intently as she babbled almost non-stop, he voice dripping with anger and malice.

Couldn't take it anymore….Gothi chose him… him!…scrawny useless fishbone…..so gonna beat the stuffing out of him!... he won't walk for weeks when I'm owd was cheering so loudly…should have been me!...should have been me…. thought he could sneak away…but I'm the best tracker there I follow him…..typical he runs home…useless coward!…..thinks he can hide there…..not anymore, oh no, no no!…but I'm a smart Viking! so I climbs up the roof….look in his bedroom window…..see him…..Gonna jump in teach him a lesson but then I hear his stupid mumbling….how it's 'all going wrong'…..how he 'wasn't meant to be chosen'…'it's all so messed up!'...how he 'wouldn't kill a dragon!'

Gobber exchanged a bewildered glance back at Stoick whose visage seemed to darken even further in the shadows of the tightly packed trees. He wasn't sure what made the chief angrier; the fact that Astrid was spying on his son or the accusation that Hiccup had a negative attitude towards his final initiation in dragon training.

"Blasphemy!" Astrid yelled in righteous indignation snapping Gobber's attention back, "ungrateful little esn't want to slay the dragon…inconceivable!...… then he's mumbling about 'getting away' and he's packing up a rowing all sorts othes, tools, books and burning other ttle runt is running away?!….Ha! I'll show him….but before I can jump him, he runs out of the house…"

Astrid stopped, spun on her heel and grabbed Gobber's tunic speaking quietly but intensely into the face of the stunned forge-master.

"But then if he runs away?...I get to kill the dragon! YES!...so I should let him…..so I spy…I spy with my little eye something beginning with…..Hiccup going to the forge!…..and he's in there for ages and I hear clattering and banging and burning in the furnace…..he doesn't see me!...I spying him so he doesn't see me he when comes out with more stuff in the basket…..its heavier now…I can tell….he's finding it hard to carry….Hah! weak useless runt…..not strong enough….only the strong belong!…..right Gobber?...only the strong belong!…."

Astrid threw Gobber off and returned to trudging through the trees her now voice cold and harsh as it so often was during dragon training.

"Well I'm strong and he's not!...I belong and he I'll make sure he knows he doesn't belong and if he runs then that's the best for everyone….but why?…..How did he do it?…gotta know, gotta find out, gotta get ahead of gure out where he's going so I get a ahead of him…..find the place…..find the nd a big boulder…..get into position to surprise him….gotta beat the truth out of him if it's the last thing I more lies…no more tricks…only the truth…..YES!...the e…..truth…..yes, yes, yes,….."

Gobber had gotten more and more disturbed as he listened to Astrid's rantings. He had no idea the beautiful Hofferson child before him had such an ugly vicious streak in her, especially in regards to Hiccup. This was clearly very different to the public image that had surrounded the girl for most of her life. Sure she had not been the kindest of Vikings when it came to the heir, but the old blacksmith figured if anyone would have cut Hiccup a break it would have been Astrid. Obviously he was wrong. But what unnerved him even more was Astrid revealing to them that it looked like Hiccup was planning to run away.

Gobber couldn't understand what would possess his young apprentice to runaway especially after becoming so proficient in dragon training and winning the respect of his fellow tribesmen and especially Stoick. There was something deeper going on, Gobber was certain, but he couldn't place his hook on it right now.

"Ah hah!" Astrid declared snapping Gobber and his fellow Vikings from their collective reverie, "Here! Here we are, here…..here… shush now!...Gotta be so quiet if I'm gonna sneak up on that scrawny brat!"

By now Astrid had led them to a large circular canyon that seemed to been carved out of the earth by the gods themselves. Immediately Astrid climbed down and was pursued by the hunting party. Stoick ordered some remain on the ridge to watch out in case the Nightfury was still in the woods.

"No point in giving it the high ground so easily!" He urged cautiously to his men who nodded in the affirmative, weapons drawn ready.

As they entered they saw the remnants of what was obviously a very violent confrontation. There were claw marks dug into the earth and into the sheer rock walls, craters littered the ground where the earth had been scorched. Black dragon scales and blood stains were spattered here and there along with the remnants of Astrid's original clothing. Her axe was nowhere to be found.

Gobber picked up a distorted hunk of metal and realised it was one of Astrid's metal shoulder guards.

"Odin's beard! Look at this!"

Gobber held it toward Stoick who examined it. The once pristine steel had been flattened and buckled. Along the cracks in the armour three distinct indents could be made out.

"Dragon bite!" Gobber concluded "Strong one at that, most probably a Nightfury."

Ignoring the babbling girl for a moment, Gobber, Stoick and the others surveyed the cove with interest.

"Impressive lair Stoick" Gobber intoned as he analysed the cove, "Isolated, remote, perfectly shielded from the outside world by closely knit trees, fresh water stream, caves for food and shelter. A perfect place for a dragon to hide!"

"No!" Astrid yelled indignantly striding back to them "No, no, no! Not for a dragon to hide…to hide a dragon!...you guys are as stupid as Stoick…he doesn't know…doesn't see!"

"Well why don't you show us!" Stoick growled, giving up on Astrid recognizing him altogether, "Make us see!"

"OK!" Astrid chirped with an overly dramatic gesture and a yelp of childish pride "…so this is what epare to be amazed!..."

Astrid then ran around behind a large boulder and ducked down, the rest of her Viking audience following to observe this bizarre performance, Hilda Hofferson foremost amongst them, desperate to learn what had reduced her once perfect child to this erratic, babbling wreck of a human being.

Astrid looked to her audience and grinned enthusiastically becoming completely enraptured in the act of telling her tale.

"So I'm hiding by this boulder and I hear useless coming…..and he's muttering to himself as usual…so when he gets closer….he says he is…..

ASTRID'S POV

"So I'm hiding by this boulder and I hear useless coming…..and he's muttering to himself as usual…so when he gets closer….he says he is…..

Flashback, 2 hours ago, The Cove

GENERAL POV

"Leaving! We're so leaving…me and you bud! It looks like were taking a little vacation…forever!" Hiccup mumbled as he trudged dejectedly into the cove.

Opening the pack he had spent the better part of the morning loading up with everything he believed he would need, Hiccup double checked all was secure still muttering to himself. He knew Toothless could hear him and understand due his enhanced dragon hearing and high intelligence.

"I just can't kill that dragon…..I….just…..I have to leave…Berk won't miss me…nobody will."

Hiccup sealed his pack and stood to take in one last look at his beautiful sanctuary, savouring the happy times he had spent here with Toothless. It was second most beautiful thing he had ever known and it broke his heart to leave it. Now all he had to do was find his elusive Nightfury-best friend, rig up his baggage and be on his way.

"I guess I could come back some day, maybe, once I figure things…."

But just as he said that, he heard the high pitched scraping sound of a whetstone grinding on metal. Snapping his head up, he nervously saw the first most beautiful thing he had ever known. There, sitting on a large boulder framed in the light of the Mid-day sun was Astrid Hofferson. True, she was one his bullies but that didn't stop her from being as beautiful as any Valkyrie in Valhalla.

As Hiccup let his eyes wander up her body, they widened in fear when they reached her face and he was immediately transfixed at the stone cold blue eyes glaring harshly down at him.

….Ah…..Astrid! HEY!...I mean…..Hey! Wha…..wha….what are you doing here?" Hiccup asked, his words falling out of his mouth like a crashed apple cart spilling its contents.

"I want to know what's going on" Astrid declared coldly, drawing the whetstone over her axe blade one final time before jumping down and beginning to stalk her prey like the hunter she was.

"No-one just gets good as you do, ESPECIALLY YOU!" Astrid growled dangerously as she backed the stuttering Hiccup toward the cliff face.

"Are you training with someone? START TALKING! It better not involve this!" the shield-maiden threatened as she grabbed Hiccup's leather flight harness and used it to shove him against the wall earning him a light knock to the back of the head.

Wincing, Hiccup was going to reach up to soothe his aching scalp but was stopped as Astrid pinned his neck with the blades of her axe.

"Argh!...Ok…urgh…! you got me!" Hiccup rasped as he struggled to breathe "...I've been making….. Outfits… So….. ARGHhhhhh!"

Hiccup yelped in pain as Astrid buried her fist in his stomach. Releasing her axe and setting it aside, Hiccup slumped to the ground, gasping for air. He stayed there unmoving. He wasn't hurt too bad but he figured if he didn't move or played dead Astrid would storm off or back away enough for him to convince her to leave before Toothless showed up.

However such great plans were often undermined the simplest of flaws and the biggest, simplest flaw in this plan was Astrid Hofferson was in no mood to let Hiccup go this time. This was spelt out in its plainest terms when Hiccup saw Astrid's thick boot collide with his stomach for the first time.

And then a second time.

And then a third time.

And then a fourth time.

Each time the Astrid brought her foot into his body, the kicks got stronger, the pain went deeper and Hiccup's heart broke harder.

"DON'T YOU SIT THERE AND LIE TO ME YOU USELESS. LITTLE. RUNT!" Astrid screamed as her face contorted in a snarl of rage and hatred.

"OUTFITS?!" she yelled in consternation, "you really think I'm going believe something as stupid as outfits?! If you're going to lie to me then at least think of something better than that hic-hic-hiccup!"

Hiccup groaned in pain from the verbal jab as well as the physical one, yet Astrid continued her verbal diatribe.

"And I thought you were meant to be the smartest out of all of us" she hissed sarcastically, "I mean I knew you would try and lie your way out of this but I never thought it would be with something as lame as that! Don't you dare try and deny it!"

Through watering eyes Hiccup saw Astrid grab him by his harness again and felt instantly dizzy as he was yanked up to his feet by the taller shield maiden.

ease don't" Hiccup begged, close to tears "….I don't want to ruin…."

"WHAT?" Astrid interrupted violently "Ruin what Hiccup?...You've already ruined my life by stealing the glory that rightfully should have been mine! That was always mine! You've taken something dear to me and I'm going to take it out of your skin!"

"Astrid don't…I'm sorry…please….just listen!"

Hiccup's protests were silenced again by a series of viscous punches to the gut and some hard slaps to the face before he was slammed once more against the wall of the cliff.

By now Astrid was practically holding Hiccup up which wasn't too difficult for her. However this brought her body so close to Hiccup that he could feel her hot breath on his face, could smell the honey and lavender from her hair, could feel her b*** rubbing against his chest as she breathed deeply from her exertions. The intensity of the whole scenario coupled with his adolescent fantasies that were a part of every young man's growing up, inevitably made Hiccup's body react in the most embarrassing way possible.

TOOTHLESS' POV

From deep within his cave, the Nightfury had watched the whole encounter play out.

Toothless knew that Hiccup desired one of the females in his clan. His pheromones reeked of it, but the boy was such a shy and timid creature, Toothless feared Hiccup lacked the fortitude to stake a claim on her. It was another thing that allowed the Nightfury to relate to his boy.

For they were both of an age when mating was an important issue for them. The experience of mating was not unknown to the Nightfury. Toothless had mated before. He just had 'other issues' to deal with. But that was a different matter to be addressed at a different time for he was solely focused on the female newcomer in his cove.

He had listened for long hours, as the boy spoke of a 'divine beauty' and seeing this attractive female human had found her way here, he assumed she was going to initiate some form of mating ritual with his boy. A mixture of pride and hope swelled in the dragon's b*** for his best friend. He had seen the red aura of desire and love erupt from Hiccup when he first saw the female on the boulder. Clearly it was going to be a heartfelt moment and the Nightfury felt proud to witness this important development of his best friend.

However as the encounter progressed and became more violent, with Hiccup on the receiving end of the abuse, Toothless began to get more worried. The female didn't exactly give off the right aura for mating, rather than red it was purplish in hue, a colour of domination and control. Perhaps this was how the auras for mating humans looked? The girl did seem intent on possessing Hiccup, that much was clear and the boy's passionate aura had only seemed to increase as the physical contact continued.

However the Nightfury could not shake the feeling something was amiss. But rather than intervene, Toothless elected to continue watching. For Dragon mating rituals were complicated affairs as well. Indeed there were some species that wholly relied on females being the dominant one of the pair. And of course dragon mating rituals did, from time to time, result in some injuries so Toothless assumed they were no less complicated or dangerous for humans as well. To interfere at what was obviously a delicate stage in the ritual might jeopardize his boy's prospects.

Yet the Nightfury inched closer to the cave mouth, ready to help if his boy requested.

'It's not as if this encounter could get any worse!' reasoned the inquisitive dragon.

'Could it?'

iccup's thoughts were a veritable war ground as he fought to control himself emotionally and physically.

'Please don't…..not now….oh God's n't let her see…..I think she's broken my ribs…..no no no no….sweet Thor she is rubbing so close to me…no don't think about it….her hair smells nose is broken…..don't pecially down there…oh gods no it's happening!'

"What are you doing you idiot?!" Astrid growled into Hiccups face, "Open your eyes and STOP MUMBLING!"

"Astrid, please….I can't!" Hiccup whimpered.

"You can't what?" Astrid demanded, frustration heavy in her tone before something suddenly stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait…..what is that?"

Slowly Astrid looked down as did Hiccup who quickly turned his gaze away when he saw it.

Then Astrid saw it.

Down below Hiccup's waist an obvious bulge had started to grow. Astrid snapped her head up back to face him, her eyes narrowed.

"Are you?...Are you getting turned on by this Hiccup?" Astrid asked in surprise.

"I…no….I just…sorry…you're d I…..I just…..I…I lo" Hiccup stuttered, his ability to talk being over-written by his rampaging biology.

ush now…." Astrid cooed interrupting the mortified boy in her grip. Hiccup was surprised at the warm radiant smile that crept across her face. "…..it's ok Hiccup," the shield-maiden continued with heart-melting tenderness, her face inching ever closer to his "you're a boy and I'm a girl…its 's ok to feel that way."

is?" Hiccup asked nervously, fighting hard to contain the blushes that were clouding his checks in red.

"Of course it is Hiccup" Astrid crooned seductively.

Astrid leaned in the last couple of inches and planted a soft kiss on Hiccup's cheek that threw him into an even deeper abyss of ecstasy. The adrenaline racing through his body from his wounds coupled with his raging hormones seemed to dull any physical pain he was in. And he was in a lot of pain.

Astrid lowered her voice to whisper as she leaned even closer and the bulge in Hiccup's trousers got bigger.

"It's nice that that you feel that way about you know why?"

"Why?" Hiccup asked desperately, his body trembling, his anticipation reaching a fever pitch.

"Because it gives me a chance to do this! Hah!"

Hiccup's world of ecstasy came crashing down around him as the searing, mind-blowing pain from Astrid kneeing him harshly in the groin, made his senses explode and his body double over on itself. Taking that movement and adding her own momentum, Astrid cast Hiccup brutally into the middle of the clearing, leaving him to clutch between his legs and writhe on the ground, m*** in tear soaked agony.

Astrid watched the pitiful display of the young man before her with a look of cold disdain. Picking up her axe from where she set it down, she loomed over Hiccup, her voice like iron.

"You really think I would ever be attracted to someone like you?" Astrid shouted derisively, "You really think I would ever let you touch me, feel me, be with me? A shield-maiden! A Valkyrie! One of Odin's greatest warriors? You've had some dangerously insane delusions in your time Hiccup but that has to be the worst I've ever heard!"

"But….but…I lo…I Lo…I love you Astrid!" Hiccup rasped desperately as he looked up at his tormentor's perfectly sculpted figure, begging with his eyes for some, any kind of understanding or compassion.

TOOTHLESS POV

Surely that would do it now.

A declaration of love was the natural ending for these sorts of things and so the violence would stop and the proper mating would begin.

At least that was what the Nightfury thought was going to happen. Though it had happened in an unorthodox way, his hatchling human had finally found the strength to make his feelings clear to the female he desired.

But then everything about Hiccup was unorthodox so Toothless really shouldn't have been surprised.

Surely the female's aura would change now. She would return his boy's affections and then he would have two humans as his allies

This was good. Things were finally looking up.

GENERAL POV

"Did you hear me Astrid?" Hiccup rasped still clutching his groin "I love you!"

'Surely that would make her stop,' the boy dared to hope as he gazed into Astrid's eyes, longing for some spark of emotion or some form of emotional connection.

But the eyes that met him were nothing more than dark blue whirlpools of hatred that seemed determined to devour his very soul.

"What are we, six years old?! Get this straight Hiccup! You aren't allowed to love me or even think about me anymore!" Astrid ordered in a tone that eerily echoed his father's scolding chief-like voice, "You're nothing but a weak, scrawny, fishbone, useless, hiccup that shouldn't have been born. I bet your mother is looking down from Valhalla and hating you right now for the pathetic waste of space you've become. Once a hiccup always a hiccup!"

'Once a hiccup, always a hiccup'

That phrase poured out of her mouth with such venom and such certainty that Hiccup felt he had been stabbed in the chest with a Deadly Nadder spine. The icy feeling spread out from his heart and Hiccup felt his stomach ripple as it swirled there for a few moments before plunging into his arms and legs, washing over the burning heat in his face, submerging him in total, cold, numbing misery.

At first Hiccup couldn't say anything, so shocked was he by Astrid's words. All he could do was roll over on his side and try to crawl away for his tormentor. Such a pitiful display only served to make Astrid emit a deep mocking laugh and the further he tried to crawl the more she laughed. Eventually Hiccup managed to haul himself to his feet leaning heavily against the boulder Astrid had surprised him on.

TOOTHLESS' POV

This was not how things were supposed to go!

That much was clear to the Nightfury as it fought desperately against its more bestial instincts to dive forward and rip this disgusting little female limb from limb for humiliating and abusing his human.

Toothless knew humans were crude and violent and unsavoury but he also knew they were capable of great acts of love and compassion. He had seen it in the fires of the raids, where females would jump in front their wounded mates or Vikings would dive heedlessly into burning buildings to save the hatchlings of other humans they didn't even know. And above all he had seen it in the amazing young human boy that had given everything he had to fix his tail fin and help him return to the sky.

Even while contemplating this bizarre duality, Toothless never took his eyes of Hiccup. The dragon became more upset as not only did the female keep striking Hiccup, but as he was forced to crawl on the floor like a beaten hatchling, the aura around his boy had begun to change colour. Where once, there was an unbroken aura of red, streaks of black began to radiate out from Hiccup's core, like black ripples on a red pond. His boy was changing before his eyes. He could sense it, see it, and smell it.

Every instinct and urge Toothless felt to intervene had to be ruthlessly repressed by the Nightfury.

This was Hiccup's test,

Hiccup's life,

Hiccup's choice.

Toothless could practically taste the salt in Hiccup's tears as they fell down his small human face.

Hiccup was leaning on a boulder now, his back to his oppressor as she came in for another assault. Every muscle in the Nightfury's body tensed and coiled like a spring ready to launch.

He knew the right moment would come soon and he would be ready.

GENERAL POV

Astrid paced slowly towards the forlorn Hiccup who was barely able to keep himself upright. He was hunched over the boulder, his back to Astrid.

'Front? Back? It didn't really matter!' She would hit him anywhere if it got her the answers she wanted.

"I must admit, you always knew how to take a beating well useless!" Astrid intoned in mock respect, "Next time I'll make you scream louder, especially now I know where to hit you."

"Astrid! Please stop!" Hiccup pleaded, his hand held out defensively "I'm leaving….ok? You can kill the Monstrous Nightmare! It's all yours! The kill, the honour, the glory, the fame….. Take it all!... Just leave me alone! ease!"

"Oh no you don't Hiccup!" Astrid snapped, malice oozing from her throat, "You see, once I'm done with you, I'm going to drag you back to Stoick and tell him you were going to run away. And when he hears what else I have to tell him about you, he'll not let you out your house for a year!"

"No!" Hiccup whimpered, the tears falling uncontrollably down his face now. But still Astrid continued, relishing every torment filled word.

"And when he does finally let you out? You can be sure in the knowledge me, Snotlout and the others will ready and waiting for you! And then we can start this whole dance all…over…again!"

Astrid smiled as she pictured the look of panic and fear dance across the shuddering young heir's face. It was a look she had cultivated for a long time. If this weak fishbone was going to be chief of the tribe one day, then she would have to break him early in life to ensure she could manipulate him for her family's benefit when the time came. It would mean she could keep her shield-maiden's vows but still hold a powerful sway over how things got done if necessary.

"Or the other option is you can tell me exactly how you're beating the dragons and I might put in a good word for you so Stoick will only ground you for a month. Either way I win!" Astrid smirked triumphantly.

"Neither is really a winning option for me though," Hiccup drawled. Even facing such unbridled malice Hiccup couldn't help but fall back on his trademark sarcasm.

"You winning was never an option!" Astrid retorted, "Now, for last time tell me what you are doing with the dragons! Tell me right now you stupid, useless disgrace for a Viking! Tell me or you are going wish you were never even born! Just like the rest of us!"

TOOTHLESS' POV

That did it!

Toothless realised that what the female just shouted at Hiccup had finally transformed his aura from an uncertain mixture of dark reds to a pool of pure jet black, like the scales that covered his own body. He had never seen Hiccup's aura such a shade before. It had been deep shades of unhappy blue, depressive dark grey, sorrowful brown but never this 'hatefully' black. It concerned and frightened the dragon in equal measure.

As keenly as his eyes could see, Toothless could have sworn his dragon ears heard his boy's heart literally break into a thousand pieces.

Toothless had the answer to his question.

Thinks had gotten worse.

Now it was just a matter of how much further things were going to go!

GENERAL POV

"Now tell me what you know about the dragons!" Astrid demanded, her voice confident, like the victor of a great duel.

At first Hiccup said nothing so Astrid took a loud threatening step forward. She would spin him round and start the whole cycle over again if that's what it took. But a voice a stopped her. It was little more than a strained whisper but its power was undeniable.

"WHY?" Hiccup rasped.

"What do you mean why?" Astrid asked in exasperation, "Have you even been listening? Tell me what I want to know!"

"What's it to you Astrid?!" Hiccup spoke louder, finally turning to face her, his green eyes afire with a rage and hatred that gave the shield-maiden pause. "Since when did you even start caring about Hiccup the useless and what he knows?" he questioned her, daring her to speak. When Astrid didn't immediately respond, it was Hiccup's turn to take a step and he just managed to lurch one uneven pace toward her, his body protesting painfully as he did so.

"You've always had to do everything by yourself, oooooh great!…..oooooh strong….oooooh beautiful Astrid! You're so damn smart? YOU FIGURE IT OUT!" He yelled, his voice thick with condescension and sarcastic mockery. "In fact! Let's all bow down before the Odin blessed wisdom of the almighty, fearless Astrid Hofferson! Oooooooh may the nine realms tremble before her all-powerful skill with the axe and her pure, unassailable virginity!"

"Watch your tongue Hiccup!" Astrid retorted, twirling her axe by her side, "you may the son of the chief, but that doesn't mean you have to be in one piece when you become chief!"

"Whoever said I wanted to become chief?!" Hiccup hissed darkly.

"Excuse me?" Astrid asked, truly taken aback by his words.

"You heard me!" Hiccup groaned as he lurched forward another step wincing as he did so, yet unflinching in his anger, "Whoever said I wanted to become chief of a tribe thick-headed, ugly, stinking, illiterate, brutish, yak-brained, stubborn uncaring, heartless, savage, dung-eaters who would rather kill the whole world than try and actually live in it?!"

Again stunned silence was the only thing Astrid had to offer in response besides the scornful, disdainful look on her face as Hiccup continued.

"You've already told me how little I matter!" Hiccup smiled a cruel parody of his lop sided grin, "No-body gives a damn about what I want, so why should give a damn what you want? YOU HEARTLESS CRUEL UGLY LITTLE B***!"

Now shaken from her shock by her trademark anger Astrid snarled back at Hiccup's insult "you call me an UGLY B***? How dare you?!"

"I'm STILL not finished!" Hiccup yelled. "I've finally done something right with my life and you're trying to ruin it!...But I won't let you!...I won't let you take this away from me the way you've taken everything else away from me. ….Well I've one last thing to say to you Astrid oooooh 'Divine Beauty!'…Yes!...I am training with someone…but that someone is not human!"

Astrid scoffed derisively at Hiccup's cryptic words shaking her head "Finally gone mad I see! Looks like you're gonna be a one legged son a chief! Yaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

As soon as Astrid unleashed her war-cry she charged at Hiccup raising her axe above her head. She wasn't going to kill him. Maybe take out an eye at best, take off a limb at worst. Either way to her, he would always be the same old useless hiccup with no-one in the world to help or defend him.

But as Astrid charged Hiccup finally gave up all of his hope and compassion for his long time crush and his tribe by unleashing his own war-cry and it was answered instantaneously.

Hiccup screamed a name.

"TOOTHLESS!'

TOOTHLESS' POV

There it was!

Toothless never thought it would happen this way. But it had happened, right in front of him no less.

The last real tie this cruel place had on his boy had finally, albeit brutally, been severed. No longer would this wretched hive of scum and villainy be the bane of Hiccup's existence. Hiccup had made his choice now. Hiccup had chosen the dragons, Hiccup had chosen him and now Toothless was going show his beloved boy what the true meaning of loyalty, sacrifice and love really was. Leaping forward he would show just what it meant to be the best friend of the unholy offspring of Lightening and Death it-self!

NORMAL POV

Astrid was only a few away from Hiccup when a huge shadow exploded up behind him. Skidding to a halt, the irate shield-maiden stared wide-eyed in fear as the shadow unfurled huge bat-like wings, bared vicious razor sharp teeth that shone like silver, regarded her with eyes that glowed green like St, Arvendales fire and make her legs shiver as it let out a deep blood curdling roar.

Stepping back slowly, axe raised in defence, her mouth agape at the sight, Astrid finally gave a name to the shadow that haunted the dreams of her and every other Viking.

"N-n-n-n-Nightfury!"

"Astrid – Toothless – Toothless – Astrid" Hiccup drawled sarcastically gesturing with his hands to each of them in introduction.

Astrid saw the dark grin across her former victim's face and with remarkable speed she felt the pieces of the puzzle fit awkwardly into place. Quickly she glanced over her shoulder and cursed inwardly at how faraway she was to the cove's entrance. If she moved fast enough she might be able to make a break for it.

However Hiccup spotted her look and with a voice oozing with bitterness he spoke softly.

"Toothless. Why don't you introduce yourself properly?"

The Nightfury snarled with wicked glee and before Astrid moved another inch Toothless lunged forward and pinned her down by the shoulders, glaring at her with all the rage and hate his dragon-heart could muster. The ebony dragon didn't feel the young warrior struggling under his considerable weight. His armoured hide didn't even register her pitiful attempts to wriggle, punch or kick her way free. Not to mention the best thing about being a dragon was that, unlike humans, it didn't hurt if anyone tried to kick him between the legs.

Hiccup stalked up to the pinned shield maiden and wrenched Astrid's axe from her hand. It had once been too heavy for him to wield but after years of work in the forge since crafting it he held with surprising ease. Running his hands along the flat of the blade Hiccup took in his injured, bloody, bruised face as it reflected back at him in the flawlessly polished steel.

"This was my favourite creation!" he declared mournfully "I spent so many sleepless nights working on it knowing it was for you. I thought it would finally show that I could be worth something, that I was more than just is!"

Astrid continued to squirm as she watched Hiccup stare at himself. The pressure on her shoulders was becoming unbearable despite her shoulder guards taking most of the dragon's considerable weight.

"Now I see…..it was not me that was was you!" Hiccups eyes narrowed and his voice became harder and colder than anything Astrid had ever heard, "It was all of you! My father, my clan, my tribe, my entire home. None of you are worthy of what I can do! The only one who ever made me feel any kind of worth was a dragon and a Nightfury of all things! The only creature that truly knows and cares for me is the unholy offspring of Lightening and Death itself!"

"HICCUP! you traitor!" Astrid screamed, her rage giving her extra energy for her desperate yet futile struggling, "you've sided with these beasts?! You're a traitor! To your own ugh!...Let me go!"

"I'm the traitor?! Hiccup shouted incredulously, "I've been betrayed by everyone since the day I was born…..and you have the nerve to call me traitor? One day they will be sorry, they will ALL be so sorry!"

"Oooooooh wadda you gonna do hic-hic-hiccup?! Talk them all into submission?!" Astrid mocked defiantly, "Like that will ever happen! NOW. LET. ME. UP!"

"YOU DON'T GET TO JOKE! NOT TODAY!" Hiccup shouted with equal ferocity looming over her pinned body making Astrid wince slightly, "and you're not the one to be making demands Astrid! Dragons are not the mindless mans are!"

Toothless snarled loudly bringing his jaws closer to Astrid's face. She could feel the hot, fish tainted air hissing through his teeth, making her nose wrinkled and her stomach churn in fear and disgust. Yet she would not admit defeat. Not here. Not to the weak Hiccup the useless!

Astrid's face twisted in a sneer as she spat her words out "well come on then Haddock! Prove it! Kill me! Come on!...Do it, kill me!...I'm right here!...Kill me!"

Hiccup was momentarily stunned by Astrid's defiance and stepped back turning his head away as she yelled her challenge.

A deep grin spread across Astrid's face as she saw Hiccup's hesitation and once again her deep mocking laugh echoed around the natural amphitheatre that was the cove.

"Ha ha ha ha!...Just as I thought! You don't have the stomach to make the hard choices! Here in the wilds you have me with a mighty dragon at your call and still you haven't the guts to do what's necessary. You're so weak!"

"You think I'm weak because I value another person's life!" Hiccup muttered his voice trembling with desire that Astrid might understand, yet unable to meet her gaze, "Valuing life is not a weakness and disregarding it is not strength! It's because I value life that Toothless is my friend. I could have killed him but I wouldn't. I looked in to his eyes and I saw myself. I saw that he was just a scared as I was!"

"And scared is all you'll ever be, unless you let me go right now!" Astrid spat back derisively "And if you are leaving, you better take your dragon and race off to the edge of the world, because if you kill me, Stoick and the others won't rest until they've killed you and your big black salamander here!"

Hiccup kept his head bowed and turned away from Astrid. For a moment all that could be heard was the black dragon's heavy breathing and the faint tweeting of birds from the forest.

"You're right Astrid" Hiccup whispered finally, "I'm not going to kill you. You're going back to the village!"

TOOTHLESS' POV

Toothless was shocked at the decision his rider was making. Here was the perfect chance to exact his revenge. The female had revealed her true colours. Her dark aura was indeed one of possession but also of oppression and bore a striking resemblance to the one that surrounded the great queen in the nearby dragon nest. As a dragon who detested tyranny in all its forms he could not understand why Hiccup was deciding to be lenient now things had gone so far. Sometimes the boy was too compassionate the dragon thought.

Surely they had no choice now but to kill the female in order to protect their secret. With any luck the half-wit Vikings on this island would just assume Hiccup was killed also and not bother to look for them or alternatively after finishing the girl off, they would fly in and decimate the town making everyone who had wronged Hiccup suffer, leaving this place a barren, scorched wasteland.

He looked at his boy with wide curious eyes, desperate to understand him. Hiccup lifted his eyes and stared back at him, a stern look on his young freckled face.

GENERAL POV

"Toothless, let her up." Hiccup said evenly

The Nightfury growled in protest turning back to Astrid who despite her pain, wore a deeply smug grin on her face.

"TOOTHLESS! Let her up!" Hiccup said again. Toothless saw the conflicted look of pain and fatigue in his young rider's face and begrudgingly obliged.

"About time!" Astrid grumbled as she dusted herself off while Toothless backed up a few steps his bitter gaze still locked on her, "I knew you wouldn't have the balls to kill me Haddock! I suggest you start running before the rest of the tribe get here and I end up wearing your dragon's skull for helmet!"

"No Astrid,…..you're the one who should be running." Hiccup replied coldly.

"Excuse me?" Astrid replied, a little puzzled.

"I said I would not kill you Astrid." Hiccup elaborated his voice and eyes now colder than ice as he stared at her, "But I didn't say I would not hurt you!"

"What do you mean?" Astrid didn't know why her voice was so shaky

"Toothless you know what to do bud", the emotionless boy Viking stated, ll!"

Toothless shared a knowing look with the boy and nodded. The Nightfury's eyes once round and wide with understanding now narrowed in pure feral aggression, a sure fire sign that something very bad was about to happen.

"Hiccup…what are you doing? You….you….you….you keep that ay from me!" Astrid tried to keep her voice firm while thoughts of such pain undermined any authority she tried to muster.

But the cold look on Hiccup's face struck Astrid with a new more paralysing fear. If being caught under the Nightfury was scary then being caught in his blazing green eyes was utterly horrifying.

"Run Astrid!" Hiccup whispered maliciously,

"Run!"

GENERAL POV

Astrid could not believe what she was hearing. Her long time victim was now master over her fate and had just ordered the world's most powerful dragon to attack her.

Surely this was some kind of perverse joke! Hiccup wouldn't do this! But what about the Nightfury? Astrid's mind finally remembered how to move her limbs and she bodily flinched, ready to sprint away to freedom and safety.

But before she could will her body to move further the Nightfury leapt in front of her and let out a fiercely powerful roar that catapulted her back to the ground with the force of a hurricane.

With eardrums ringing in protest from the sound, Astrid scrambled to her feet and sprinted for the cove entrance.

She was going to make it!

She reached out to grab on to the rock wall to begin her ascent!

Suddenly the Nightfury's hard sinuous tail slammed into her from the left, her once upright world flying violently sideways.

Astrid landed with a hard thump and a dull 'crack'. As she breathed deeply to refill her winded lungs, excruciating pain exploded in her abdomen. Quickly Astrid altered her breathing to short shallow gasps as she clutched at her side, cradling her broken ribs.

Toothless gave her only seconds to recover before he crouched low and swiftly advanced, clamping his gummy jaws around her left leg and dragging her across the ground making her m*** in desperation.

With her free leg she tried to kick the Nightfury in the snout and for a moment it seemed to work, the dragon wincing and blinking in discomfort with each hit. However the kicking stopped when Astrid felt the Nightfury's teeth slide out if its gums and into her leg. With one deft tug the dragon stripped off her left boot and legging, tearing long gashes in her flesh, making her cry out in agony. Tossing the clothing away, Toothless repeated the process on the right leg with swift, brutal, draconic efficiency, leaving the shield-maiden quivering and bloodied on the ground.

TOOTHLESS' POV

Toothless remained faithful to his objective. The bites were not too deep to sever any arteries but deep enough to make the girl suffer. He would make certain of that. This hunt would last as long as he deemed fit. He would make this human pay a hefty price for the long list of crimes against Hiccup she was guilty of.

Though Hiccup was not allowing the female the mercy of a quick death he could see his boy was still wrestling with the morality of deliberately taking a life. Fortunately Toothless had no such qualms and if Hiccup was threatened by anyone or anything the Nightfury would kill without hesitation to safeguard his human.

GENERAL POV

"HICCUP!...PLEASE!...MAKE IT STOP!" Astrid screamed hysterically as she floundered on the floor, her blood-slicked legs slipping on the red tinted grass, "I'M SORRY!...OK?...I'M SORRY!"

"I afraid it's too late for sorry Astrid!" Hiccup intoned back, his voice still cold and dead-panned, "What did you say at Dragon training? It's only fun if you got a scar out it? Well there's still plenty of fun to be had! Toothless! Finish this quickly bud!"

Again Astrid hauled herself to her feet and tried to run. She got a little further this time and dared to hope.

That hope was dashed when a powerful force gripped the back of her spiked skirt and lifted her off her feet. As she flailed miserably in the air, Astrid fumbled at the buttons that held her skirt on. She cried in stuttering, staggering breaths as the Nightfury swung her from side to side, his jaws firmly clamped around the tough leather and Iron spikes.

After a few moments the buckle for the skirt came loose and Astrid fell to the hard ground with another thud and another 'crack'. The sudden shock of another rib breaking didn't give her enough breath to even scream but merely gasp out a pitiful whimper.

Toothless left with just the leather garment in his mouth violently shook the skirt from side to side the way a wolf would tussle with a bone or a piece of carrion flesh. In moments the once pristine warrior garment was nothing but a pile of tattered leather strips and shattered Iron shrapnel.

Astrid was simply reduced to crawling now, but she didn't get far and her fear filled sobs increased as Toothless loomed over her and dug his teeth into the steel armour on her shoulders. Hiccup listened to her pitiful sobs as a trail of bite marks, bruises, friction burns and welts were left as each piece of armour was brutally ripped from her body. Astrid's trademark blue tunic was then ripped to shreds as the Nightfury slowly dragged its razor sharp talons across her back and shoulders.

All the while Hiccup heard Astrid's cries.

At first they were that of a warrior fighting valiantly, then they were that of a desperate soul struggling against an inescapable fate, filled with pleading and the last strands of dying hope. But now the only sounds Astrid made were the haunted, relentless cries of a frightened child, delirious and scared by countless nightmares. They were cries he knew well, for he had spent over a decade making them himself, remnants of his daily torture he could never hide from. So to hear those sounds of pleading, paralysing fear being made by Astrid Hofferson, one of his lead persecutors, filled Hiccup with equal amounts of perverse satisfaction and overwhelming pity.

By now Toothless had nearly stripped Astrid of all her clothing, strength and dignity while the girl herself was bordering on passing out.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, bringing the ebony dragon's attention back to him as the blonde Viking of his dreams cowered between the Nightfury's blood stained claws. In a different life Hiccup might have found the sight arousing seeing so much of the girl's exposed feminine form on display. However, all he felt now was a cold void of detachment as he evenly spoke to the dragon, "that's enough now. Let her go!"

TOOTHLESS' POV

Toothless looked down at his shuddering whimpering prey, nearly satisfied with his work. The human witch had finally been brought to heel and would serve as a harsh reminder to anyone who would dare hurt his friend ever again. Stepping over the girl he could not resist raking his back claw over the girl's head, scarring her face and ripping out some her beautiful golden hair, making the girl break down in more tears as a fresh wave of pain swept over her.

'Let her bare the same scars as his boy and see if she has the fortitude to survive living with them!' the Nightfury thought as he padded over to his best friend.

GENERAL POV

"It's time we left bud. We're done here." Hiccup spoke quietly as he attached his large travelling pack to the back of Toothless' saddle. Though heavy with supplies, the extra weight was of no consequence to the mighty Nightfury. Looking at Astrid's axe Hiccup considered leaving it behind, a final casting off of his suffering and torment. But in the end, Hiccup gripped the axe tighter before tying it to the back of his saddle.

It was no longer a symbol of his love for Astrid Hofferson.

She had cruelly obliterated that love in no uncertain terms. From now on it would be a symbol of his skill, a means for defending himself and maybe, just maybe, he would give it to the woman who truly loved him, if one even existed.

Just as he mounted Toothless, sliding his feet into the stirrups and working the tail fin mechanism, a quiet whisper reached his ear.

"Hiccup….p!"

Turning the dragon to face the source of the sound, Hiccup saw the bleeding, wretched wreck of humanity that was Astrid Hofferson. She was practically n***, covered in cuts, teeth marks, welts and bruises. Her eyes once alive with fire and venom were now wide, watery pools of fear and despair. She was reaching a bloody arm out toward him as she stared up, begging with her eyes.

"Hiccup…..I….I…..I'm…s-s-s-sor….r-r-r-y-y-y…..H—h-h-hee..l-l-l-p-p-p…..m-m-me…p-p-p-pl…e-e-ease!"

"I'm sorry too Astrid," Hiccup intoned sympathetically, sorrowfully "But I can't help you…..not anymore!"

"Hiccup?..."

But before she could utter anything more, Hiccup nudged Toothless and the Nightfury spread its huge wings, launching itself and its rider gracefully into the air.

Astrid gazed in horror and wonder while the heir of Berk expertly guided the unholy offspring of Lightening and Death itself as it circled the periphery of the cove. The dragon's other-worldly, innate grace coupled with his rider's fluid skill struck Astrid.

She suddenly pondered on what it would be like for her to ride a dragon. What strange, tantalising sensations would she feel? What sights would she see? What glory could she win?

Astrid felt deep stirrings of loss and sorrow as well as that familiar ferocious, hate-inducing envy towards Hiccup having such powerful gift and realizing such a gift (which he probably would have shared) would now and forever be denied her.

And all because she had violently cast him aside too many times and this had been the final straw.

For both of them.

Somewhere, deep down in the frigid chasm of her cold heart Astrid knew she had committed a lifetime of heinous crimes against Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, that could broke no forgiveness, no remorse.

All that could be given back was pity…..and vengeance.

Struggling to her feet Astrid wrapped her arms around herself to protect her wounds and her modesty. Seeing her moving, Hiccup yelled out from his saddle as he continued to circle his prey.

"I'm leaving Berk Astrid! Go back and tell everyone what you saw today and tell them this! The Nightfury will return! And when we do come back, BERK WILL BE NO MORE!"

Still Astrid didn't move and in one of the rare times in his life, Hiccup became impatient.

"She's not moving bud" he groaned "let's give her a little incentive to get going!"

Toothless growled in understanding and began to charge up his plasma blast.

At first Astrid wasn't sure what was happening until she had heard that high-pitched whistling. The sound that announced the arrival of the Nightfury.

It was a sound that marked the arrival of fire and death from a dragon that never stole food, never showed it-self and most importantly…never missed!

As soon as she figured out what was going to happen, a bright purple ball of fire exploded in the ground 20 feet to her right sending rocks, smoke and debris high into the air, leaving a huge smouldering crater.

Astrid jumped back as another crater erupted 10 feet to her left. Seeing the dragon bank around for another shot, Astrid finally realised it was coming straight for her.

Long dormant reserves of adrenaline exploded into her system and a bloody and beaten Astrid Hofferson screamed as she fled from the cove as the ground where she had been standing was shattered by the earth-rending fire of the Nightfury.

Seeing a traumatized and shocked Astrid finally leave the cove, dashing blindly through the trees back to the village, a satisfied yet sad Hiccup leaned back in his saddle to guided Toothless higher into the sky. Casting one longing look back at his former home Hiccup leaned down and stroked the head of his draconic best friend.

"Looks like it's just you and me bud!" Hiccup crooned with new sense of determination, "Let them have Berk. The rest of the world is all ours!"

The Nightfury grinned a wide smile in response as he beat his powerful wings and turned in a new direction out across the sea.

TOOTHLESS' POV

Toothless, now calmed from his altercation with the female Viking and saving his young friend, warbled and barked triumphantly in agreement with Hiccup's statement. The time had now come to take their friendship the next level.

The human had proved himself extremely capable, shown tremendous fortitude in the face of adversity, demonstrated boundless compassion and love and had now forsaken all ties to everything and everyone he knew in his home, to stand with him.

Now was the time, the Nightfury decided, to take Hiccup to the place that existed only in rumour, myth and legend.

He was going to bring his boy home.

FLASHBACK ENDS

PRESENT TIME, THE COVE.

GENERAL POV

Stoick, Gobber, Spitelout, Hilda, Magnahild, Hildegard, Gunnar, Bucket, Mulch, Hoark, Phlegma, Sven. They were all Vikings of the highest calibre. They had seen more than their fair share of gut-wrenching, sickening, horrifying, unsettling, disturbing, things in their time.

But their stony silence was unlike anything they had ever experienced before in the face of the mind-bending, soul-destroying tale that had just poured out of Astrid Hofferson's mouth as she raced around the cove recounting her ludicrous tale.

The girl again seemed completely oblivious to her audience as she scooped up and threw away small rocks and fragments of fabric that lay strewn about the ground.

"That's…unbelievable!" Gobber finally broke the silence his throat tight and voice rasping.

"Do you think it's true?" Spitelout asked.

"It can't be!" Gobber snapped back "the girl's obviously gone mad with delirium!"

"Don't you call my child mad!" Hilda snarled "She's a Hofferson! Hoffersons don't lie!"

"Oh wake up Hilda!" The blacksmith retorted "there's no way Hiccup would do something like that! It's completely impossible!"

"And that's why it's true!" a new voice said quietly.

The entire party turned to see the owner of the voice and were stunned to see it belonged to Stoick the Vast himself. Gobber slowly approached and placed his hand on his friends shoulder.

"Stoick you can't know that!"

"Yes I do Gobber" Stoick said firmly nodding his head to Astrid as she wandered aimlessly about the cove, "did you ever think it possible Astrid Hofferson would be reduced to a gibbering, simpering wreck? Did you ever really think it possible for Hiccup to do well in dragon training without help? Did you ever think it possible for such devastation to occur under our very noses!?"

Gobber couldn't respond. The lost look on the blacksmith's face was all Stoick needed to know that Gobber agreed with him, albeit reluctantly, as he continued to speak. Astrid briefly caught their attention again as she rolled on the grass giggling and wincing in pain.

"It's because this tale is so impossible to believe that it has to be true!" Stoick intoned, "There is no other explanation. Hiccup has been tormented his whole life, Hiccup trained a dragon and someday Hiccup will take his revenge on the people who have wronged him."

"So what do we do Stoick?

"We prepare….We go back to the village, we tell the tribe, we take stock of what we've done to my son and then we prepare for the day Hiccup comes back to finish what we started!"

"But how do we…..?"

"HA HA HA HA!"

Gobber's question was loudly interrupted as Astrid's laughter became loud and maniacal before degenerating into uncontrollable sobbing and shrieking. The mask of terror Astrid wore on her face when she first returned to the village became her locked expression once more as she darted panicked looks across the empty sky.

"Coming back!..." Astrid uttered in terror.

"Coming back, coming back, coming ck, back, back…COMING BACK!" she repeated over and over until she was screaming it at the top of her lungs.

Hilda Hofferson tried to restrain her daughter but Astrid was powerfully strong in her hysteria. Astrid threw her grieving mother off and raced at full speed out of the cove, past the bewildered warriors and back into the forest where none but the birds could hear her distressed, maniacal cries.

Cries that warned of fire and vengeance. Cries that spoke of the return of a son who had been wronged and at his back he would bring with him the might of the most powerful dragon in the world.

Along with pursuing panicked Vikings, even the birds seemed to acknowledge Astrid's prophetic cry that one day Berk would see the return of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and ultimately…..

…..the return of the Nightfuries.

thks razor for helping me with this story this is by far my longest chapter


End file.
